b

1. What is the main difference between elections in a democracy and elections under an authoritarian
regime?
a. In democracies, elections are about issues, while under authoritarian
governments, elections concern the personalities of leaders.
b. Democratic regimes allow for viable opposition, while the leaders do not permit
themselves to lose under an authoritarian government.
c. Unlike democracies, there are no political parties in an authoritarian regime.
d. Authoritarian regimes never have elections.

d

2. What is the function of an election in a democracy?
a. It promotes accountability among the leaders.
b. It helps to politically protect different groups in society.
c. It serves to legitimize the government.
d. all of the above

a

c

7. What is a referendum?
a. It is the congressional election held between presidential elections.
b. It is the right and power to vote.
c. It is the practice of voting directly for proposed laws.
d. It is the process by which a party selects its candidates for the general election

d

b

11. If the winner of an election is whoever receives the most votes, regardless of the percentage of votes
received, the candidates are running under a __________ system.
a. majority
b. plurality
c. propord. unitary

c

b

13. __________ is the most common electoral system used in general elections in the United States.
a. The majority system
b. The plurality system
c. The proportional representation system
d. The gerrymandered system

c

15. A majority electoral system, which is used on a limited basis in the United States, requires that a
candidate must win __________ to win an election.
a. at least 25 percent of all votes cast
b. at least 40 percent of all votes cast
c. 50 percent plus one of all votes cast
d. at least 60 percent of all votes cast, plus a percentage of absentee ballots

d

b

18. When the Supreme Court announced the principle of "one person, one vote," what did it mean?
a. Voters may only vote once in an election.
b. Within a state, electoral districts must have roughly equal populations.
c. No one could be denied suffrage on the basis of race or gender.
d. Voting was an individual right, not a group right.

b

19. The practice of __________ means that district boundaries have been purposefully drawn to unfairly
advantage one group or party.
a. proportional representation
b. gerrymandering
c. balloting
d. incumbency

c

21. In what case did the Supreme Court say that purposefully drawing districts where the majority of voters
were members of a single minority group, in order to ensure minority representation, was not
constitutional?
a. Reynolds v. Sims
b. Bush v. Gore
c. Shaw v. Reno
d. Brown v. Board of Education

c

a

23. What unusual act did the Texas legislature perform in 2002?
a. It redistricted without waiting for a new census.
b. It made gerrymandering illegal.
c. It gave redistricting authority to a nonpartisan committee.
d. It officially repudiated the principle of "one person, one vote."

c

b

26. The result that is produced when voters cast a ballot for the president and then automatically vote for the
remainder of that party's candidates is called the
a. shirttail effect.
b. coattail effect.
c. pocket veto effect.
d. logrolling effect

b

28. Which event helped lead to a change in the way that the electoral college chose the president and vice
president?
a. the riots caused by the Alien and Sedition Act, in the 1790s
b. the duel between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr in 1803
c. the failure of Andrew Jackson to win the White House in 1824
d. the secession of southern states in 1860

b

29. A major factor in John Kennedy's 1960 presidential victory over Richard Nixon was
a. the fact that unlike Nixon, Kennedy hired a professional political consultant.
b. that Kennedy had a much stronger performance than Nixon during televised
debates.
c. Nixon's failure to develop infomercials.
d. Kennedy's aggressive use of push polls, especially in the Northeast.

a

30. Who is the incumbent?
a. the current officeholder, running for re-election
b. the candidate who raises the most money during the campaign
c. the official candidate for a political party, running in the general elections
d. the label for whoever is leading in the polls on the day of the election

b

d

32. Campaign consultants do all of the following except
a. conduct opinion polls.
b. organize direct mailings.
c. develop the issues on which the candidate will focus.
d. All of the above are tasks of the campaign consultant.

c

33. When does public opinion polling take place during a campaign?
a. at the very beginning
b. only toward the end of the campaign
c. throughout the entire campaign
d. Polling is too expensive for any campaign except the presidential campaign.

c

34. Which of the following primary battles is the best example of an ideological clash, rather than a
personality clash?
a. Al Gore and Bill Bradley in 2000
b. George W. Bush and John McCain in 2000
c. Mike Huckabee and John McCain in 2008
d. All of the above involved ideological clashes.

b

c

36. During the earliest years of the United States, who nominated the candidates for president?
a. The incumbent president chose both candidates.
b. Members of the major political parties chose their own nominees.
c. Nominations were controlled by each party's congressional caucus.
d. Political machine bosses controlled the entire nominating process.

c

37. At a party convention, when an entire state delegation votes for the single candidate supported by the
majority of its delegates, it is called the
a. butterfly ballot.
b. consensus mark.
c. unit rule.
d. prospective vote

b

b

39. When candidates for office sponsor hearings, undertake inspection tours of disaster areas, or meet with
foreign dignitaries, the form of publicity they receive is called
a. a press junket.
b. free media.
c. the coattail effect.
d. the C-SPAN dance.

c

b

44. The right of candidates to spend their own money on running for office
a. is limited by a cap of $50 million.
b. is protected absolutely by the First Amendment, according to the Supreme Court.
c. was forbidden by the Campaign Reform Act of 1974.
d. is allowed only if the candidate can meet every personal dollar with a dollar from
outside donations.

b

45. What is a common way for interest groups, corporations, and political parties to aid a candidate while
avoiding campaign finance laws?
a. funding money through unregulated PACs
b. engaging in issue advocacy
c. using spot advertisements
d. all of the above

b

46. The term soft money refers to
a. personal wealth that a candidate uses.
b. money donated to a party to sponsor party building and voter registration.
c. donations to a challenger.
d. donations of time and supplies.

b

a

49. Spot advertisements are useful because they
a. permit a candidate's message to be delivered to a target audience before people
can tune out.
b. are essentially free of charge, because the media needs to fill the "spot."
c. are funded through a loophole in campaign finance laws.
d. are the best means for an audience to get the most information about the policy
preferences of candidates, rather than the candidates' personalities.